Alaoji power plant comes live in June

Category: News Published on Monday, 21 January 2013 06:00

Four gas turbine units of the Alaoji Power Plant, which has a combined capacity of 504 megawatts of electricity will be ready in June this year.

Site Manager of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), Umeh Godson, said this when the National Good Governance Tour team led by minister of information, Labaran Maku visited the power plant in Aba, Abia State at the weekend.

Mr. Godson said two units have already been commissioned and linked to the national grid while the other two are at the pre- commissioning stage.

Godson said the steam turbine units of the plant, which has the capacity to generate 500 megawatts of electricity will be ready next year.

“All equipment needed for the steam turbine units have arrived and we are now constructing the foundation to lay the turbines.

“The first unit will be in service by the end of this year and the second unit will come on stream next year,” he said.

He however said there are challenges of gas supply to the plant but that it was being addressed by the Nigerian Gas Company.

With a total capacity of 1, 074 megawatts of electricity, Alaoji will be one of the largest power plant in the country.

In his remarks, Information Minister Labaran Maku said Alaoji is one of the 10 new power plants being constructed by the Goodluck Jonathan administration to stabilize power supply across the country.

He said the problem of inadequate power supply in the country was being addressed on a sustainable basis and the private sector has now taken the lead with the government providing the guarantee.